Stanford, with the caveat that getting back to PDX is difficult even coming from top schools. The T3 prestige factor will certainly open up doors, but if you're not from the area, they will view you as an outsider. And if you are from the area, they will view you as a traitor for leaving, even for a top school.

But the Stanford name will help neutralize some of that suspicion, and will also give you the backup of being able to look for jobs in other markets.

I'm not trying to be too pessimistic. Stanford + decent grades + local PDX ties and you'd probably be just fine. Just don't underestimate the insularity and tiny size of the Portland legal market as a whole and the miniscule enviro law field specifically.

rinkrat19 wrote:Stanford, with the caveat that getting back to PDX is difficult even coming from top schools. The T3 prestige factor will certainly open up doors, but if you're not from the area, they will view you as an outsider. And if you are from the area, they will view you as a traitor for leaving, even for a top school.

Eh. The Portland market is extremely insular. But someone who grew up in Portland and then goes to law school at Stanford (or Harvard or Yale) is not generally viewed as "a traitor" for attending a top school. A Portland native who goes to SLS (and who consistently shows a strong interest in returning to the Portland market) is probably going to do fine.

rinkrat19 wrote:Stanford, with the caveat that getting back to PDX is difficult even coming from top schools. The T3 prestige factor will certainly open up doors, but if you're not from the area, they will view you as an outsider. And if you are from the area, they will view you as a traitor for leaving, even for a top school.

Eh. The Portland market is extremely insular. But someone who grew up in Portland and then goes to law school at Stanford (or Harvard or Yale) is not generally viewed as "a traitor" for attending a top school. A Portland native who goes to SLS (and who consistently shows a strong interest in returning to the Portland market) is probably going to do fine.

Serious question: Where do you think the traitor line should be drawn? Are you only a traitor if you go to a school ranked 4 and below?

US news and world report specialty surveys are particularly instructive. very important for the field, practitioners drool over them. Lewis & Clark #1 beats Stanford at #3 in general ranking.

However, financial considerations loom large. That's a lot of money from Stanford and definitely worth weighing against the value of a laughably flawed commercial magazine survey, but overall, I'd say the gap in prestige and notoriety in environmental law, a burgeoning field, is wide enough that you should take the extra debt and follow your dreams at L&C.